The airport in Gold Coast is small enough that you exit the airplane via stairs down to the Tarmac. I don't know why, but that's one of my favorite things while traveling. Something about actually walking out of the airplane to the ground feels so much more adventurous than walking into the gently-sloped carpeted tube that connects to the airplane door. Not sure why, just a thing I noticed.
Here is a prom picture of me with a koala. Best day ever.
Surfers Paradise wasn't really my scene. I'd venture to guess the median age was about 19 on Saturday night, which still strikes me as bizarre that they're allowed to drink. Drinking in a bar with 18 year olds makes me feel ancient. I start thinking of movies that were released before they were born, and after that I just can't stop myself. Jurassic Park, for example. That movie was my childhood. It's also been out for 20 years. Man.
Another note about drinking in Australia: bouncers here are mean. Not that I've personally had any trouble with them, but more that at any given bar they seem to be far more anxious to fight than the patrons. I've seen more people forcefully removed from bars in the last week than in the last several years.
I moved on from Surfers Paradise to Byron Bay the next morning. Great decision. Byron Bay is a beautiful, quiet beach town with a bohemian 60's vibe to it. I spent my day in Byron lounging on the beach and reading. I spent the night drinking in the hostel with new friends, learning new rules to drinking games. On the strength of that quality day I decided to extend my stay in Byron by another day, and spent it in exactly the same way.
Just another day in Byron Bay
When I grudgingly left Byron, I caught an early morning Greyhound bus to Brisbane. I'd heard mind reviews of Brisbane, with several people telling me to not bother, and some telling me it was a great little spot. I settled on 2 days, to give me proper time to explore the city and visit some recommended places. First impression of Brisbane: there are a lot of bridges, and several of those bridges are hideous. I didn't take any photos of the city, because I was on a mission. My cousin Katarina had recommended I make a visit to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, for the chance to hold a koala. Best recommendation ever.
I don't think I can rave enough about how amazing Lone Pine was. For starters, my admission was $24 with my student ID (thanks again for not putting dates on those things, USC!) whereas the larger and more popular Australia Zoo costs $86. Holding the koala was only $16 extra. And that was only the start to an amazing day. Next up after the Koala Meet n' Greet: Birds of Prey Feeding!
For half an hour, trainers put several beautiful raptors through their paces in exchange for bits of food or mice. I spent the entire time mesmerized and trying to take as many well timed pictures as possible.
After the birds show, I walked around to all the exhibits and took pictures of all sorts of furry and feathered creatures I remember reading about as a kid. Kookaburras, dingoes, wombats, platypuses, cassowaries: the gang's all here. I spent about 30 seconds in the reptile room before an Eastern Brown Snake (second deadliest snake in the world) took a look at me and I ran away because why tempt fate?
Of course, I left two signature animals of Australia out of the previous list: kangaroos and emus. Lone Pine has a separate enclosure, where hundreds of kangaroos hop around with a few emus. For $2, you can buy some kangaroo food and make some new friends.
Sadly, I had to leave eventually, and I returned to the hostel to meet my roomies and relax. The nights in Brisbane were uneventful, but good for the ol' budget. I found myself in a bit of a travel quandary. You see, the east coast of Australia is dotted with amazing sand islands, rainforest, and beach towns. The traditional way for car-less travelers to navigate the coast is via Greyhound bus, in the form of a few 12-15 hour trips. My dilemma was this: while it would let me see more of the coast, travel by bus is more expensive and would require me investing a few more of my precious travel days sitting uncomfortably and waiting to get somewhere.
I talked things over with my nonexistent traveling partners, and made the executive decision to catch a flight straight out of Brisbane to Cairns, the northernmost big town on Australia's east coast. Did I miss out by skipping the bus? Sure. Do I regret it? Nope.
Cairns is amazing. I showed up on Thursday night and had a big night out with the new roommates courtesy of cheap boxed wine. The hostel I'm at, Gilligan's, is essentially a resort with bunk beds. There's a market and a club downstairs, and the rooms are absolutely the nicest of any I've stayed in on this trip. Friday morning the roommates and I took a trip down to the man-made lagoon to relax and lay out in the sun for a bit, before I headed off to read and have a quiet night. Not that a quiet night was really possible with the bass from the downstairs club. Live by the sword, die by the sword I suppose.
I had a quiet Friday night because I had an early morning appointment Saturday: snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef! The boat left the harbor at around 8:30am, through 2 hours of choppy sea to our first dive spot, Paradise Reef. I joined up with a few other solo travelers to rent a waterproof digital camera and defray costs.
Fortunately, on the second dive next to the white sand of Michaelmas Cay, I switched out for a new mask and snorkel. I could breathe! Turns out that even though I could still use some cardio work, I'm not quite as out of shape as I feared the first time. Blame faulty equipment, but I had a way better experience the second time.
Now here is a picture I took of a fish:
If you know me, you can probably guess how that went. I dove, and two things happened immediately: 1) I tried to breathe through my snorkel, which is a poor idea with your head underwater 2) I kicked my left fin off. I got the one picture, and kicked straight back up towards breathable oxygen and my stupid floating fin. I was a sight to see, struggling to tread water while coughing and holding aloft a camera and a fin. It's a good look, I swear. Eventually I got myself sorted and made my way back toward the boat, for a couple more quick dives before we departed.
After a few more unsuccessful attempts at a picture with those big fish, I headed back aboard the ship for the arduous journey back to Cairns.
Saturday night was a quiet night as well, thanks to my rapidly depleting funds and being a little worn out from the reef. At about midnight, I booked myself onto an all day tour for Sunday of the Tablelands near Cairns.
Again, amazing. I feel like this post could be three distinct posts about Lone Pine, the Great Barrier Reef, and Barefoot Tours, but I didn't have enough time in between to write all of this down. The tour group was a really fun time, and we got to see a lot of wonderful tucked away spots in the forest.
We also stopped at several picturesque waterfalls, an event from which I don't think my towel will ever recover. I stopped taking pictures mostly because the tour guide was taking several, and I decided I'd just bum those off of him later and enjoy the experience camera free for the day.
After a great day with the group, we headed back to Cairns and several of us met up again for a big night on the town, or as big as a Sunday will allow. That explains why my head was sore this morning, and I spent my last full day in Cairns in bed reading.
Last full day in Cairns? Yep. Tomorrow I'm flying off to Melbourne! It's also the start to my very last week in Australia, but lets not talk about that right now.
Cheers,
Jared
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